Development

Central Hessian did partake only partially in the HG consonant shift and later further underwent a general gradation process for almost all consonants.

Between vowels

• all voiceless consonants are voiced
• voiced consonants become (voiced) fricatives, /d/ shifts to [ɾ]

In general

• /h/ from /k/ develops a vowel to consonant harmony; becomes [ʃ~ʒ] after front vowels and [x~ɣ] after back vowels
• /g/ also develops this harmony but tends to elide after front vowels, only to merge with /h/ after back vowels

HG consonant shift (partially) + Further consonant gradation

T

t_ > ts_

_tt_ > _ss_ > _[z:]_

_t_ > _ts_ > _[dz:]_

_t > _s

K

k_ >! k_

_kk_ > X > _[g:]_

_k_ > _[x/ç]_ > _[ɣ/ʒ]_

_k > _[x/ç] > _[x/ʃ]

P

p_ >! p_

_pp_ >! _pp_ > _[b:]_

_p_ > _f_ > _[v]_

_p > _f

D

d_ >! d_

_d_ > _t_ > _[d]_

_d > _t

Ð

ð_ > d_

_ð_ > _d_ > _[ɾ]_

_ð > _d

B

b_ >! b_

_b_ >! _b_ > _[v]_

_b >! _b

G

g_ >! g_

_g_ >! _g_ > _[ɣ/(ɟ)]_

_g >! _g > _[x/(ç)]

S

s_ > [z]_

sC_ > [ʃC]_

_s_ > _[z]_

_rs_ > _[Rʃ]_ > _[Rʒ]_

_rs > _[Rʃ]

Diphthongisation

Like in modern HG long î and û underwent diphthongisation.

î > ai

like in „t͡sa͜ɪt“ MHG zît - time, and

û > au

like in „bɾa͜ʊɣə“ MHG brûchen - to need

MHG diphthongs

Unlike HG the old diphthongs did not merge with diphthongizing long vowels but merged together instead:

ei, eu, ou > â

some other diphthongs switched within

ie > ei

uo > ou (with some exceptions becoming u)

iu > oi (more consistent than HG)

Vowel heightening

In contrast to HG long ô, â and ê did not remain unchanged, they shifted to the now vacant position of the long high vowels.

ê > î

ô > û

Since long ô was now also vacant, â also shifted.

â > ô

Endings

All MHG inflectional endings were shortened.

-ən > -ə [en]

-ə > -◌ [e]

Other changes

It has to be mentioned tho, that this is only the basic development and every dialect may have some small changes. Short open i in some dialects shifted to [ɛ], short u to [ɔ]. Old long i in some dialects behaves differently and became oi in word final position or was simply shortened: "enoi"/"enin" - "hinein"

The development of vowels before "r" is especially tricky, because younger generations tend to not pronounce it in coda position. It may follow the same patterns as if there would be no „r“, shifting further towards the evolving vowel realisation; "durch" [dɔrʃ~dɔʃ] (through) or even further away from it; "erst" [irʃt~iɐʃt] (first).

Vowel development as a chainshift

As a huge number of vowels shifted due to different reasons, their route of changing forms a chain of vowels supplementing each other.

Present

Verb in the present often show a simple ablaut system, where the plural forms take the stem vowel, whilst the singular may trigger a mutation. In some dialects or as a consequence of hypercorrections this ablaut spreads to new forms.

The mutation can also involve the consonant; in the following examples from /h/ [x~ɣ] to /h/ [ʃ] and from /g/ [x~ɣ] to /ɡ/ [ç~ʝ] or [◌].

The verb "to be" is irregular

Past

Although there is an equivalent to the German "Imperfekt", it is much more preferred to use the periphrastic "Haben/Sein-Perfekt". It is constructed by using the forms of "to have" (or "To be", if the verb describes an action of moving around and is unchangeably intransitive) in the present tense in combination with the past-participle form which is often highly irregular, but in theory should stick to the blueprint "geSTEMt".

As one of the most used verbs, „to have“ is not only highly irregular but also easily adopted from other dialects or HG, which means, that this table is only one of many possibilities.

Examples of the past participle:

come - gekumme

said - gesâ(g)t

seen - gesî

been - gewêse

done - gedô

made - gemaht

Conjunctive

The Present Conjunctive is produced by using the present conjunctive forms of the verb "to do" in combination with the infinitive (identical to the 3rd person plural).

The Past Conjunctive is produced by using the present conjunctive forms of the verbs "to have" and "to be" in combination with the past participle. The same distinction is made as in the past.

Passive

The Passive mood is formed by using the verb "to get" in the particular tense.

Contrary to HG and English, tho, no special case switch is necessary to denote the roles anew.

English: I say it. It is said to me.

HG: Ich sage es. Es wird mir gesagt.

Central Hessian: Aih sâg‿es. Aih krei‿es gesât.

Present: ToGet + infinitive

Present Conjunctive: WouldDo + participle + "kreie"

Past: ToHave/ToBe + participle + "gekreit"

Past Conjunctive: WouldHave/WouldBe + participle + "gekreit"